UNMANNED SYSTEMS UPDATE
17 Jun 09. Saab coordinates European development project. Saab is appointed coordinator for the MIDCAS consortium who has been awarded a contract by the European Defence Agency to address the sense and avoid issue, relevant for the possibility to let unmanned aircraft systems fly in regular airspace. The value of the contract is approximately €50m, of which Saab is awarded approximately MSEK 105. Before unmanned aircraft systems can be allowed to fly among regular, manned aircraft in so called non-segregated airspace, there is a need for a system that can see and avoid any potential collision threats. The European MIDCAS project aims at contributing to find such a solution. Saab is appointed coordinator for the consortium, consisting of 13 European aerospace industries, and will be responsible for project management, overall coordination, and avoid technology. The overall objectives of MIDCAS are two:
– To demonstrate technology for a sense and avoid system for unmanned aircraft systems to be able to fulfill the requirements for traffic separation and mid-air collision avoidance in non segregated airspace.
– In close cooperation with European organizations provide the technical background for them to establish a sense and avoid standard.
“The project brings together 13 of the leading European aerospace industries who will gather the multiple European initiatives on sense and avoid to achieve a coherent route forward, supported by the European Defence Agency’s route map to unmanned aircraft system traffic insertion,” says Lennart Sindahl, Executive Vice president for Saab and head of the business segment Aeronautics.
“Only by close cooperation we can reach a high level of acceptance and a common European agreement on how to resolve the sense and avoid issue. The technology is a key element to start exploring the great potential of using unmanned systems for civil security and military use”
The MIDCAS consortium consists of 13 European industries from the five contributing member states; France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Sweden, appointed as lead nation, with Saab as the coordinating industry.
Members of the consortium:
Saab (appointed as coordinator)
Alenia Aeronautica S.p.A
Diehl BGT Defence GmbH & Co. KG
Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. in der Helmholtz-Gemeinschaft
EADS Deutschland GmbH
ESG Elektroniksystem- und Logistik-GmbH
Galileo Avionica S.p.A
INDRA SISTEMAS S.A
Italian Aerospace Research Centre CIRA S.c.p.A
Sagem (Safran Group)
Selex Communications S.p.A
SELEX Sistemi Integrati S.p.A
THALES Systèmes Aéroportés S.A.
17 Jun 09. The French defence procurement agency (DGA) has awarded DCNS and Thales the second phase of the D2AD* study to design and demonstrate an automatic takeoff, landing and deck landing system for rotary-wing UAVs. Phase 2 demonstration trials will be conducted in Mesa, Arizona, and will use the AH-6U Little Bird unmanned helicopter from Boeing. Landing tests on fixed and moving platforms will pave the way for deck landing trials on a French Navy vessel at sea, planned for mid-2011.
11 Jun 09. Talisman Littoral UUV swims into close-quarters surveillance. BAE Systems Integrated System Technologies (Insyte) has unveiled a new two-man portable unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) demonstrator founded on technology previously proven in the company’s Talisman M system. Known as Talisman Littoral, the 50 kg vehicle uplifts the autonomy, precision navigation accuracy and connectivity of its bigger sibling, but repackages this functionality into a scaled-down vehicle optimised for operations in confined harbour, inshore and very shallow water environments. (Source: Jane’s, IDR)
15 Jun 09. At the Paris Air Show 2009, EADS Defence & Security (DS) presented the mock-up of the the latest unmanned aerial system: the Advanced UAV, the proposed Franco-German-Spanish UAV programme for the development and production of a fully auto